Agile, flexible, and responsive workforce
Further increase in full-time equivalent employees
There were 4,209.53 full-time equivalent (fte) employees in the Council at the end of March 2022, an increase of 133.80 fte compared to a year ago. This is the fourth year there has been an increase following many years of reducing number of employees.
Some of the increase this year will, again, be due to the COVID-19 pandemic - where the additional contain outbreak management funding has been used to staff teams supporting people to maintain self-isolation, support businesses and workplaces with COVID-safe measures, and deliver community testing, NHS test and trace and welfare programmes.
Increase in sickness absence
In 2021/22, 12.97 days per FTE were lost due to sickness absence (excluding schools). The top reason for absence was stress, depression and anxiety followed by musculoskeletal problems, which is the same as the previous year. Coronavirus was the third largest cause of absence. There has been an increase in the sickness absence rate from last year.
Agency workers
The spend on agency workers increased in 2021/22 by £2m:
The five top service areas where agency workers were deployed were: Children Services, Streetscene & Regulatory Services, Adult Services, Law & Governance Services, and Project Management & Property services. Again, this increase can be related back to the impact of Covid.
Workforce profile
All Workforce data is as of 31/03/2022. Whole workforce figures are used, based on headcount, excluding schools and casual workers.
In the City Council, 67.2% of the population is made up of females, this percentage is higher compared to the city’s employed female population of 47.8%. 49.4% of all Coventry’s residents are female.
Coventry has a male population of 50.6% and 32.8% of males are employed in the City Council, this is less compared to the 52.2% male population who are employed in the city and aged 16-64.
78.5% of the City Council’s workforce is White British, this is more than the 71.8% of Coventry’s population, who are aged 16-64 and in employment, and the 73.8% of all Coventry Residents who are of White ethnicity.
20.8% of Council’s workforce is from Black and Minority Ethnic groups, this is less than the 28.2% of Coventry’s population who are aged 16-64 and in employment, and the 26.2 % of all Coventry residents who are from Black and Minority Ethnic groups. The ethnicity of 11.5% of the Council’s workforce is unknown.
6.9% of the Council’s employees declared having a disability compared to 17.7% of all Coventry’s residents who have a disability. The disability status is unknown for 14.3% of the City Council’s workforce.
75.7% of the Council’s employees are within the age band of 35-64 and this is higher in the Council than it is in the rest of the city - 58.5% of Coventry’s employed population is aged between 35-64.
